What Happens Now?
by Muggleborn-Meghan1992
Summary: Bella and the other Cullens have moved back to Forks, seventy years later. She meets her great neice, who holds the same delicious scent that she had. Will the Cullens be able to resist her? Post Breaking Dawn obviously . Not just fluff, actual plot.
1. Home

Hey everyone

**Hey everyone! I have found a renewed passion for Fanfic since I started and finished the Twilight series. Try not to be too harsh…all my others have been Harry Potter ones. Constructive criticism welcome. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Edward or any of the Cullens. All the imaginative work of Stephanie Meyers. And what wonderful work it is!**

I couldn't believe that it had been almost seventy years since we had been to Forks. Seventy years in which I, my husband, daughter, and the rest of my family had traveled to far parts of the world. I had attended and finished college three times: once at Yale, then Harvard, and finally, making good on my promise to Edward, Dartmouth. Now, so many years later, it was finally safe to return to the small town where no one remembered the name of Cullen.

I smiled my dazzling smile at the cashier behind the counter at Newton's. From the look of it, he must have been Mike's great-grandson. The teenage boy gawked at me for a moment. "Here you go." The new hiking boots had merely been an excuse to come in and look at the place that I had once worked when I was human. It had changed so much…the walls that used to be filled with simple hunting and fishing gear had given way to much more sophisticated technology for those occupations. I watched in my peripheral vision as the young man continued to stare at me as I left the shop.

I stepped lightly over to my shiny, candy apple red Ferrari. It was the same make as the one Edward had given me after I became immortal. It was considered a classic now, what with all the newer models. It was one of very few left in the world. I felt Edward's glare as I climbed into the car.

"Did you really have to stop by? That boy is as incapable of sustaining inappropriate thoughts about my wife as was his great-grandfather before him." He growled in his velvet voice.

"Ah, so I was right about him being Mike's great-grandson?" I pulled my teeth back to show a set of brilliantly white teeth. He too pulled his lips up at the corners, but unlike mine, which was in a smile, his was the forerunning of a snarl.

"I don't understand why you even bother, love. He's so boringly…human."

"If I recall correctly, you never thought that I was just so boringly human." I told him.

"But you were anything but boring and ordinary," he commented, his amber eyes taking in my face. I sighed. Even after over seventy years together I still had not tired of even the slightest of Edward's touches. He pulled his hand away and checked his watch.

"We need to hurry. Carslile and Esme will be expecting us." I gave another longing sigh.

"Won't it be nice to be back in our cabin?" I said gleefully, my voice chiming like a bell. Then a thought struck me. "Will Renesme-"

"She'll want to stay in the other cabin on the premises. Esme had it fixed up to be livable for her and Jacob. Although I daresay that she'll add her own flair to the redecorations soon enough." Satisfied, I pulled slowly out of the driveway. After all this time, I had still never developed a habit for driving fast. If I wanted to enjoy the thrill of going fast I could always run. The car was for pleasure rides…and of course when we needed to keep up human pretenses. Edward impatiently tapped his fingers on the dashboard. He hated the fact that I had a car that was destined to go fast and yet still drove at what was, to him, a crawl. In other words, the speed limit.

We made it to the turn off where our home awaited just a few hundred yards away. The ground we trod on was still familiar to me, even though it had been nearly a century since I had been here. And the old white house seemed as though we had never left it, although I was sure that was all Esme. But even so, the Victorian style home seemed to hold a timeless charm.

We could see our relatives milling around in the house, undoubtedly awaiting our arrival. Renesme's warm brown eyes peered through the window, although she had probably heard us coming down the driveway. We pulled up and climbed gracefully out of the car. Edward politely held out his hand to help me out, and when I gave it to him, took my hand to his lips and brushed a soft kiss to my fingers. Then he chuckled. A moment later I understood why when the door was flung wide open.

"Ew. Can't you guys hold off on that until you're out of our sight?" My daughter looked at us disgustedly. I grinned sheepishly at her, sure that if I was able to blush that I would have been. Edward however, pulled me closer, and simply said, "Don't talk to your mother that way." This, even now, is still strange for me to hear.

"Or what?" she asked, now laughing. "You'll ground me for the next fifteen years?"

"Keep pushing your luck and I just might." He said, although without any real conviction in his voice. And of course the slight crooked smile spreading across his face left his threat very empty. Renesme guffawed and tossed her long, curly brown hair over her shoulder. I gazed at her momentarily.

It was strange to think that in just a few days time we would all be enrolling in high school together, and we would be posing as cousins. And the incredible part was that anyone who wasn't a direct member of our little family wouldn't even know the difference. Renesme had stopped growing and looked no older than maybe seventeen or eighteen. Frozen forever, just as her father and I were.

Jasper and Rosalie were keeping their last name as were Edward, Alice and Emmett. Renesme and I were going to use the last name that I was going to give to her the day the Volturi showed up. So we were enrolled as Isabella and Renesme Wolfe, and we were all due to start school the following week for the new semester. Jacob, who looked about twenty five, was obviously too old looking to attend school.

But Nessie had insisted on being a part of the school where her I and Edward had met. I think, honestly, that even though she's grossed out by our physical contact that the thought of us falling in love while I was still human was appealing to her. She seemed almost as excited about the prospect of returning to Forks as I had been. Jacob confided to me that Renesme had talked about it nonstop to him almost every night before they went to sleep.

Having Jacob as a son-in-law wasn't as awkward as I had once thought it would be. He was as good of a person that I could have ever hoped Renesme would find, and his unconditional love for her was one that no other person could have given her. They had been married for almost thirty years, and still seemed as though they were newly weds. Thinking of that made me realize again about the cabin that they would be sharing now that we were back.

"So have you guys walked out to the cabin yet?" I asked, turning to Jacob.

He shrugged. "Not yet. We were waiting on the both of you to get back; figured you might want to see it."

"Well that was thoughtful of you." I said, taken aback. It wasn't normally like Jacob to be so thoughtful.

"Sure, sure." He said waving me off. Edward's eyes narrowed.

"Jacob, I don't think this is a good idea." I turned, startled, towards him.

"What isn't a good idea?" I received no answer. Jacob was looking pleadingly at Edward.

"Come on man, you know that if we hadn't done it then Alice would have." Alice sniffed haughtily in the corner.

"And I would have done a better job too." Then she sighed. "But I'm certain Bella will love it Edward. She might as well go." I was the one with suspicious narrowed eyes now. I quickly did a mental math calculation and came up with a dreaded day in my mind. It was, technically, my 88th birthday.

"Jacob," I whined in my wind-chime voice. " You _didn't_." He grinned at me sheepishly. I sighed, but followed Jacob and Renesme out of the house. The rest of our family followed us. It wasn't long before we reached the quaint little cabin. Renesme covered my eyes.

"You're gonna love it Mom!" she trilled. I knew that Alice had said the same thing, so I would just have to put my faith in both of them. I heard a door being flung open and then feet shuffling inside. My daughter's hands disappeared from my eyes. I gasped as I took in my surrounding.

The whole room was covered in blown up pictures. There were all sorts of pictures. Pictures of Rensme, Edward and I. Pictures of me and Alice. Pictures that I had taken of me and Edward when I got the camera and scrapbook for an eighteenth birthday present. Pictures of my friends in high school. Then there were ones that I didn't even know still existed. Like pictures of Renee holding me when I was a baby. Or Charlie ruffling my hair out on the boat, when I was making a face that clearly said I didn't want to be there.

It was so strange to see the old me. Or at least that's how I thought of it. There was a distinct difference between that life…the one that these pictures held proof of….and my new immortal life with my new family and husband. If I was able of tearing up, I would have.

"Thank you." I whispered. No normal human could have heard me. But everyone here wasn't exactly normal. Renesme gave me a hug from behind. I was speechless for a few moments. Then I cleared my throat.

"I really appreciate this, guys."

" Well we know that you're normally adverse to material gifts." Jacob told me. I laughed a little.

"You have no idea how much this means to me." Edward brushed his lips softly against my cheek.

"I love you."

**So what did you guys think? Hopefully you enjoyed…promise that it isn't going to be just fluffy stuff…just give me time to work the plot in. Please review! **

**Meghan**


	2. Tantalizing

Thank you guys so much for reviewing and I'm glad that you liked it

**Thank you guys so much for reviewing and I'm glad that you liked it. Hope you like this chapter just as much! Love yall!**

**Meghan**

The secretary gazed at all of us over the top of the desk.

"And you all belong to Mr. and Mrs. Cullen?" she asked skeptically. "That's… well…it's quite a brood to have been adopted." The secretary, Mrs. Allen seemed to be an exceptionally sharp woman. We would have to be very careful about pretending to be human when we were around her.

"Yes," said Edward smoothly, a charming smile displayed on his face. "But all of us came from broken homes. They were our foster parents, and then just couldn't bear to let us go, so they kept adopting." His story sounded believable enough and Mrs. Allen seemed slightly less suspicious, although that may have been due to Edward's dazzling smile rather than the lie that he told so well. She handed all of us our schedules and we headed out of the building, trailing through the drizzling rain.

"You had to put up with the rain _all _the time?" Renesme asked us warily. Edward, and I smiled. We all knew exactly how dreary Forks could be. Renesme didn't really remember her first few months around the town that well.

We made our way to our separate classes. Although I hadn't wanted Renesme off on her own, Edward insisted that she be allowed to take her own courses.

"Love, she hasn't needed us to be around for nearly sixty years. She won't like it if you push yourself on her in a school so small. Besides, we are bound to have a few classes together in a school this small."

"But what if she gets," and I dropped my voice to a whisper, "_thirsty_?" I had such a bad feeling about being separated from her for some reason.

"She's been in control of her thirst practically since the day she was born, Bella. Why all the worry suddenly?" He looked quizzically at me. "Is everything all right?"

"I suppose so," I allowed, feeling slightly silly. "For some reason, I just don't feel right about it."

"If it would make you feel better, I could monitor her thoughts for you." Edward offered. I felt immensely better instantly. I smiled, and he returned it.

"Now, please stop worrying and enjoy your first day back at high school." He said. "It's been almost seventy years since you've walked these hallways; you have to be curious about what's changed." In truth, I was very interested, but I was also worrying in the back of my mind about Renesme.

It was fascinating to me that the last time I had been to the high school, I had been human. I didn't know if it was because it had changed or just that I was seeing it for the first time through my immortal eyes, but everything looked much different.

Edward and I had a first period English together, and then shared a second period Biology with Alice and Renesme. Mike's great-grandson caught my eye once in our History class. I winked at him. And startled him so bad that he almost fell out of his desk.

Edward gritted his teeth as the boy caught his balance, obviously seeing me winking at the boy in his thoughts. After second period we had lunch. All of our family set together at lunch. I now knew what it was like for the Cullens to have sat by themselves every day at lunch. Surprisingly, it didn't bother me, although I expected it would make me feel uncomfortable. But my family was there, and that was all that mattered. Even all the stares that our group was attracting weren't enough to strike a nerve.

After lunch, we had Pre-calculus. The teacher was much improved from the last math teacher that I had experienced here. Then, finally, History came. I sat through most of the class in a daze, listening but not really hearing. The entire class had to go to the front of the room and tell their family history. I sighed. Edward was right…high school was so boringly human.

"Miss Wolfe?" Once upon a time, I would have not responded, knowing that 'Wolfe' wasn't my name. But now, I wasn't exactly normal.

"Yes?" I responded. I smiled my brilliant smile at him. My twinkling voice caught the teacher off guard.

"Um," he started, "Would you please go to the front and tell us about yourself?" As much as I hated to, I know that it wouldn't do to get in trouble. It wasn't easy, but the Cullen motto was to stay under the radar. Translation: be as normal as possible; don't stand out. If I couldn't dazzle my way out of having to talk to the classroom, then I would just have to suck it up and deal with it.

I sighed again, but stepped lightly to my feet and almost glided gracefully forward, although taking care to move at a human pace. I played my part well, telling of how when I was young, I had lost my family in a tragic house fire, in which I had only escaped because I had been staying with a friend, then being adopted by the Cullens, who were my foster parents. I made sure to sound almost tearful in the right parts, although tears could not escape my eyes even if I had wanted them too. But my voice was very convincing.

"I can still remember bits and pieces of my life with them," I said, making my voice sound watery. "But most of it's faded away by now." This was somewhat true. Most of my human memories were gone, and my thoughts of Charlie and Renee were very dim.

"I'm…so sorry for your loss." The teacher, Mr. Wagner told me, patting me on the arm, in what was clearly supposed to be a fatherly touch. He withdrew his arm immediately, probably due to the fact that my skin felt ice cold to him.

"And," he said, trying to recover from the shock of my cold skin, "Edward, he is your…?" he finished, indicating towards Edward, obviously wanting to finish the sentence.

"My adopted brother." I told him.

"Thank you, Miss Wolfe." He said, and then motioned for me to sit down. Another girl was called up. She had very warm brown eyes, the exact color of Renesme. Just the thought of my daughter made me smile. So much for my bad premonition feeling. The girl kept talking, but it was minute before I registered what she was saying, since I was tuning her out as I had the other humans.

The first thing that caught my attention was when Edward sat up straighter. His body stiffened, and his eyes instantly darkened. I couldn't tell what it was, but I knew of only one thing that could make his eyes darken like that.

I hadn't realized that I hadn't been breathing. I had been so deep in thought that acting normal hadn't exactly been on my mind. I sucked in a deep breath. All of a sudden, the inside of my throat was on fire. The most mouthwatering smell that had ever reached my nostrils was suddenly all around me, filling me, burning me. And it was coming from the girl with the dark brown eyes at the front of the room.

**And the plot thickens! Muah ha ha! Please review…I know it isn't long but I had to leave it like this. Please please please review! And I told you it would pick up…hopefully I'll have that happening in the next chapter. Promise that it'll be much longer too! Thank you to the few people that have reviewed, but I would really love more! Thanks!**

**Meghan**


	3. Resist

**So hopefully you all remember where we left off….anywho…enjoy! (Oh and BTW my very good friend Reanna did make a very good point to me yesterday. Renesme isn't venomous. Well you know what? In my story she is!)**

**Disclaimer: The works of Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyers…if they belonged to little ol' **_**moi **_**do you really believe that I would be sitting here writing on fanfic? **

Barely a second had passed. The girl was still talking steadily and no one else seemed to have noticed mine and Edward's strange reaction. I really began to listen to what the girl was saying.

"My name is Julie. I live with my Mom. We've lived in Forks as long as I can remember. My family has been here since my great grandfather, Charlie Swan, became the sheriff of this town. He was married before he met my Great-grandma Sue, but I don't know his first wife's name. They had a daughter, but no one knows what happened to her." I gasped.

Would this girl ever realize that the woman she was talking about…her great-aunt…_me_…was sitting just a few desks away from where she was speaking? Edward was staring at me out of the corner of his eye…expecting me to react like a newborn. I shook my head to assure him that I was in control, just stunned by the news we were hearing. How was one supposed to react when they just found out that they had a great-niece? _Well, _I answered my own question, _Normal people would be able to hug them and tell them how nice it was to finally meet them. _It's not like I could do that. The teacher and every other human had pulled away from the touch of my cold skin, but I didn't know if I could bear it if my own niece was repulsed by me. For the very first time in my seventy years as a vampire, I _almost _second guessed myself about my decision to join the Cullen clan.

I'd never had any doubts about joining the love my life and his family in their immortal fairy tale. I didn't even know this Julie. So why was it she was able to make me question my own existence? Would I have actually been able to get to know her if I was alive and human, crippled and bent over, stuck in a nursing home, decaying and weak, but at least it would be safer for her. So many questions were running through my mind.

Charlie and Sue had gotten married? Why didn't Julie know about Renee? Had she ever been curious about me? Julie kept talking and I was hanging on every word.

"My dad left to go south when I was about six. The rain never did sit right with him. I still go visit him every summer and every other year for Christmas. And…well that's about it." She said, wrapping up. The teacher nodded encouragingly at her, and the rest of the class gave a polite and very short moment of applause. She smiled at every one and began walking down the aisle of desks so that she could take her seat. I tried as hard as I could not to breathe, and it seemed as though Edward was having the same difficulty. I knew that if one single wisp of her scent were to catch me off guard again that it would be my undoing. Even though I was an unusually controlled vampire, we all had our limits. And normally when someone's blood sang for us, it wasn't something that we could easily ignore. By that I mean, the human usually ended up dead. I had never had a singer, but this was as close as I had gotten, and I did not like the temptation that it imposed on me.

I tried my best not to study her, but I was curious, in a human aspect, even more so than I was as a vampire. Who was this girl, my great niece? What was she like?

It was obvious that she had inherited mine and Charlie's idea of an acceptable appearance. Jeans, t-shirt and hoodie. She looked comfortable and healthy. She also looked…was it muscled, underneath her hoodie? That probably implied that she was athletic, which I most certainly had not been. She had glasses, which instead of giving her a slightly geeky look, seemed to suit her face perfectly, and made her look sharp, intelligent and possibly cunning. She carried a pencil over one ear, and had her hair pulled back in a pony tail. This indicated to me that she had thoughts that she liked to jot down, or maybe she just liked writing.

She had a pretty face, which was highlighted by the fact that she had her hair pulled up behind her. She wore no makeup, but didn't seem as if she needed it. She seemed oblivious to the fact that she was drawing at lease three boy's attention in the class, as if she were above such things as a childish high school romance. She continued on to her seat, none the wiser that I had been watching her. Or so I thought.

Julie made eye contact with me. She drew away slightly and dropped her gaze. I couldn't imagine what thoughts must be going through her mind. And then, something horrible happened. Julie blushed.

The monster inside my head screamed, for even though I could not smell the pooling of her blood in her cheeks, the evidence sat very clearly before me on her face. It was horrible luck that she had noticed my exam of her, because apparently she had also inherited my ability to blush very easily!

_You have a great niece Bella! _I told myself, trying to concentrate on anything besides the scent of her blood. _You can't honestly want to kill her. She's related to you…doesn't that make her more real to you then some stranger off the street?_ Even though I told myself these things, I could not stop myself from imaging what her blood would taste like. It was torture…

Then I realized something. I had thought of it earlier…why hadn't I realized it then? This smell, although not exactly like mine had been, was similar. The flowery fragrance that surrounded her did smell simply mouthwatering, better than anyone I had ever smelt, and yet her blood did not sing for me as mine had for Edward.

So this is what it had been like, on a smaller scale, for him just to be in the same room with me? This was the torture that he had put himself through just to be in the presence of my company? How had he done it?

I tried to keep myself thinking and sane, and not concentrate on the animal within me that was begging to be fed. Even though I was still myself, I couldn't help but notice how her pulse throbbed and her blood flowed, tantalizing myself and my husband.

Edward wasn't saying anything, not even having his eyes open. To any one else it looked as though he had simply gotten bored with the story telling and had drifted off to sleep in his chair. I studied Edward and his perfect features for the rest of the class period, refusing to let myself be drawn back into the world of torture in which the blood thirsty beast inside of me ruled.

I never heard the rest of the students tell their stories, barely noticed when the teacher let us out early. The only thing I could think of was getting out of that classroom and putting as much distance between my family and Julie as I could.

Alice met us outside the door. Her look said it all…she had seen. I didn't want to know the vision in her head, what she had seen either Edward or I doing to that poo,r innocent girl.

"Every one's accounted for except Renesme." She whispered to me. "The others are waiting out by the car. We decided it was worth it to skip school today." Edward's eyes went blank and I could tell that he was scanning the crowd of people in the hallway trying to find Renesme's thoughts. All of a sudden a horrified look stole across his face. He whispered one anguished word.

"No!"

And for the first time all day, my fears about Renesme being thirsty didn't seem so silly.


	4. Memories

We walked as quickly as possible, trying not to draw stares from the other students surrounding us.

"What did you hear?" I asked him under my breath as we walked.

"She's very thirsty." He whispered back. "She's never come across a scent like this before and she's not in control. She's planning…well…" He didn't finish and he didn't have to.

My daughter was about to become a murderess; she was planning this innocent girl's death in her head. Edward saw the look that passed over my face at the thought of my only daughter becoming a monster

I wasn't sure which way we were walking at first, it looked like we were headed to the front office, but then Edward made a sharp left and suddenly we were gliding quickly along to the old gym. With no one else around, we walked even quicker than we normally would have dared to with a human nearby. I could see Renesme and Julie from this distance.

It seemed harmless; Renesme was smiling brightly and conversing with the girl. But I could already see her eyes: they were black. We came closer and I could hear part of the conversation.

"-should come with me!" Renesme was saying. "I'm leaving right after school."

"Well I don't know," Julie answered her. "I didn't hear anything about a new clothing store opening, but it does sound fun. Do you think your parents would mind if I went with you to Port Angeles?" Julie didn't even see us coming, but we were close enough by this time to intercept.

"Actually," I cut her off before she could say anything else, "We've already got plans thank you." Edward nodded curtly towards her. I tried to give a smile but it came out as more of a grimace.

Edward cupped Renesme's shoulder firmly and I put my arm through hers. She hissed at us and Edward retaliated with a low snarl. She fought us, but Edward and I, working together, maintained a tight hold on her. We hoped that it had gone unnoticed by Julie, but there was no way to be sure.

I tried to force my internal shield away from my mind for a few moments, allowing Edward to hear me without speaking out loud. _Does she suspect? _Edward firmly shook his head no, but something in his look told me that there was something wrong.

As we walked away, I looked back over my shoulder once at Julie. She looked slightly crestfallen and a little dejected.

_Better safe than sorry._ I kept telling myself, knowing that it was better to have hurt her feelings if it meant keeping her away from us. Again, I found myself in the shoes that Edward had stepped into so many years ago when he tried to tell me that it would be better if we weren't friends.

We led Renesme back to the car, where the others were waiting for us. Rosalie looked worried, Alice complacent, like she was ready for us to leave. Jasper looked almost happy, and I didn't have to guess why. Normally he was the one with the problem controlling himself, so he had to be thrilled that someone else had finally caused a problem. Emmett, who didn't seem to care much either way, helped us hold her down and put her in the car. She touched her hand to my face.

I saw the image in my mind of Julie, lying on the ground, pale and lifeless. Then, another image replaced it, one of Renesme looking content and full, her eyes a bright glowing red. I felt her hunger, her pain at being denied when she had been so close to that sweet flavor. Suddenly, after seeing Renesme's thoughts of being thirsty, it was all I could do to contain my own wanting of human blood."

"I know," I told her, and I did. Although I could only think of one person who could completely empathize with Renesme.

"Talk to her." I hissed at Edward.  
"When we get home." He said in a low voice. "She's not herself right now, we need to give her time to calm down and think. Otherwise, she won't listen." I looked in the backseat where Emmett and Jasper were still holding on to Renesme. She looked more herself now, and the lust for blood was no longer apparent in her eyes. But I wouldn't feel safe until we were back to the mansion on the edge of town, far away from Julie.

It seemed almost and eternity before we pulled onto the long dirt driveway leading to our home. I could hear Esme moving around, still tidying the house. She would wonder why we were home so early. I wondered if she would send for Carslile. She must have heard us coming, for she stood waiting for us on the porch.

"What happened?" she asked, concern etched on her face. For an answer, Emmett and Jasper thrust Renesme out of the car and to the ground before Esme. Edward hissed at them. Jasper looked apologetic for a moment, and Emmett shrugged his shoulders. Esme looked horrified.

"Did she?" She asked, looking directly at Edward and me. We shook our heads simultaneously, and Edward explained to her what had happened.

"Apparently," he said, casting a sidelong glance at me, "Bella has family here. And she smells just as good as Bella did." Esme shook her head and looked down for a moment sadly. Edward continued to explain that he and I had first encountered her in class, and then were worried when Alice told us of her vision, and finally that we had snatched Renesme away from Julie at the last moment.

"Will we have to leave?" Rosalie asked. She had always been protective of Renesme, never irritated at her as she so often was with me.

"I don't know." Esme said quietly. "We'll wait until Carslile gets home, and then decide what to do." She gestured to me. "Why don't you get Renesme to lie down, and you," she said, turning to Edward, "Go find Jacob. I believe he was going into town to find a job." Edward nodded, then turned and disappeared around the bend in the driveway.

Rose came with me to help put Renesme upstairs. Renesme was almost completely still, not making it necessary for us to restrain her, but if it had been a human carrying her, she would have been dead weight to them. We sat her in Esme and Carlisle's room on the bed, not wanting to have to carry her all the way out to her own cabin.

Rosalie sat at the end of the bed, placing a comforting hand on Renesme, while I sat at the head of the bed, stroking her hair. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, but was probably no more than a few minutes, she spoke.

"Mom…" she said, her voice wavering, "I-I…what did I almost _do?_" She sounded so shocked, and so helpless that I, even after seventy years as a mother, didn't know what to do for my baby girl.

"Shhhh, it's okay," I said, trying to soothe her.

"No, it's not okay!" She screeched, almost like she was in pain. "I almost killed an innocent person, so it is damn well not _okay_!" Instantly, Esme, Alice and Jasper were at the door.

Alice came to sit on the other side of her head.

"Nessie, listen to me." Renesme inclined her head slightly towards Alice without saying anything, but she still looked grief-stricken.

"Renesme Carlie Cullen, I know that you would not have hurt Julie. At least not right then and there. You love your family too much to risk exposing us like that." Renesme looked at her skeptically, then touched her hand to Alice's cheek, a reminder how powerful her hunger hand been. When Alice opened her eyes, she too looked thirsty, but in control.

"I know how good she smelled. Hey, at least you didn't have to deal with how your mom smelled when she was human. Now _that _was a smell to make your throat burn!" Renesme cracked a small smile at Alice's attempt at humor. Jasper came and stood behind Alice, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"She's right, Renesme. You could never feel as horrible about killing a person if it was someone you considered family."

"What are you talking about?" Renesme asked him. "I did almost kill her, and technically she is my family."

"Ah, yes, but at least you didn't physically lurch yourself at her." I grimaced, remembering the disastrous occasion of my eighteenth birthday party. Renesme still looked confused.

"Uncle Jasper, I still don't see what you mean-"

"Then allow me to explain. Your mother, when she was still a fragile little human, was brought here by your father to celebrate her eighteenth birthday. Now, you don't know this as well as the rest of us remember, but Bella was slightly accident prone while she was still human." He smiled at me, and everyone in the room chuckled. If I was still capable of blushing I would have.

"Do you want to get on with the story or do I have to tell her the rest?" I growled.

"Fine, fine." He said, still chortling slightly under his breath. "Ahem. Anyway, in opening one of her presents, Bella sliced her finger open.

"At that time, I had not been with the Cullen's for very long, perhaps two decades, and the fresh, warm scent of your mother's blood was enough to set my throat on fire." Everyone had stopped laughing now, this was the part of the story that no one liked to tell. Jasper continued in a quieter voice.

"I threw myself at Bella, only to be blocked by Edward, who then crashed into the glass table with her. Bella's arm was covered in blood, and the smell was so overwhelming that I wasn't myself anymore. Emmett and Rosalie had to bring me outside, where once I smelled the clean air, I was more or less myself again. But I couldn't shake the haunted feeling of what I had almost done to Bella. I ran off into the woods and could not bring myself to return for several days. By that time-"

"Jasper," I said warningly. Nor I, Jacob or Edward had ever told Renesme about the heinous time where Edward and his family had left. I had never wanted it brought up, because it caused Edward so much pain to think of that time.

"No I want to hear what else happened." Renesme said stubbornly. " It might help me feel better about Julie."

"It has nothing to do with that, and it certainly won't help you." I said in a firm tone. "There will be no more discussion of this now." Renesme put her hand to my face, asking silently if she had offended me in some way, and why I was so determined to not tell her the story.

"It's nothing like that sweetie. Your father and Jacob are back though."

**I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter and I hope that I'm staying true to all the characters, because I would never want to change any of the magic that Stephanie Meyers has created. Wasn't the movie great? If you haven't seen it yet…you need to! And I now know why the band that has titled themselves Muse have rightfully done so…they're amazing! Please R&R. love ya!**

**Notquiteblonde31**


	5. Vision

**Thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing for my story! It wouldn't be possible without two of my best friends: Autumn, who is the most awesome beta ever and who is the amazing person who helped mold my story; and Reanna, who is my Twilight expert and a wonderful source of creativity and support! 'Preciate it!**

**Disclaimer: No I don't own any of the Cullens (although I wouldn't mind having a few of them to myself. : D ) I do however own the character of Julie. **

Edward had told Jacob only the basics that he needed to know about what had happened at school, trusting that Renesme would fill him in more fully later. His face was full of concern, and he skidded to a stop just outside Carslile and Esme's room.

Renesme jumped from the bed and flung herself into Jacob's arms, all thoughts of Jasper's story gone. She didn't sob; only silently buried her head in Jacob's massive muscular chest.

"Its okay Nessie, I'm here now." He tried to continue holding him close to her, but she jerked away forcefully.

"Why does everyone keep trying to tell me that everything's all right? I almost took a human's life today, and not just any human but my own cousin!" She placed her hand on his face, and whatever she showed him stopped the protest he had been about to make. The rest of us watched, waiting to see what would happen. When Renesme pulled her hand away Jacob looked momentarily stunned, but then quickly concealed his concern with a grin that was clearly plastered on.

"Nessie, come on. I know that was a close call, but what's life without a little risk?" I growled slightly under my breath: I felt bad for Renesme and wanted to do everything I could to make her feel better, but I did _not _want to encourage this kind of behavior. Jacob looked quickly at me and shook his head a fraction to either side. Not understanding exactly where he was taking this, I allowed him to proceed.

"It would have been horrible if you would have killed the girl, yes, but see this just proves that you're even stronger willed than you thought you were!" He looked triumphant, glad that he had managed to find the silver lining of the situation. Renesme however, still looked slightly down.

"Jacob, I've never been tempted like that before. It had nothing to do with my self control--if mom and dad hadn't been there I don't know what I would have done." All of a sudden, a tiny gasp swept the room. We all looked back to the bed where Alice was still sitting. Her eyes were blank, and she stared unseeingly across the room.

"But, why now? After all this time? We just got back!" I looked over my shoulder at Edward. He wasn't quick enough to hide the horror that stole across his features.

"Edward?" I inquired. "Alice? What's going on?"

"The Volturi." Alice said. That was all the explanation I needed. How one word could strike fear into the unbeating heart of an immortal I'm still not certain, but all the same it did. The last time we had come across them, they had come very close to decimating our numbers. Thankfully, we had seen in advance and gathered our friends and family to help.

"Will we have time to get the others?" I asked quickly. Alice nodded. I had all but forgotten my only daughter and her problems, standing just a few feet from me.

"Mom? Bella?" she asked, trying to recapture my attention. When words didn't work she stepped fluidly over to me and put her hand on my face. In an instant my mind swirled with her thoughts; what was happening? Was something wrong? Was it something she had done?

"No, darling. What's going to happen is not your fault." I felt like I needed to pace, but I didn't want to leave Renesme without some answers. "The Volturi are coming for us."

She gasped in a terrified way. "Why?" she asked incredulously. Renesme knew who the Volturi and their guard were, but we had never again brought up the encounter between us and the vampire royalty almost a century before. Edward took her aside and quickly explained to her about the feud between the clans. The rest of us stood as still and silent as pieces of rock while he filled her in. She looked just as scared as the rest of us now. She backed up until she was back in Jacob's arms, which he promptly wrapped around her.

"What do we do?" she asked in barely more than a whisper.

"We fight." Edward said simply.

"Hell, yeah!" Emmett said, excited at the prospect. "It's been getting kinda boring around here anyway…we needed a good fight!" Rosalie looked disapprovingly at him. Esme shook her head.

"Emmett, we didn't want to fight last time, this time if we can help it, it won't be any different." Carslile nodded in agreement.

"We certainly don't want any blood on our hands." He said in his calm, assuring tone. Jasper looked uncertainly at Alice before he spoke.

"I do not wish it to come to fighting, but if it is to protect my family, then I will stand against the Volturi in a heartbeat." None of the rest of us knew what to say about Jasper's speech, and no one spoke for a while. Finally, Carslile cleared his throat and then addressed us.

"We need to act quickly, if like we did last time, we wish to gather our comrades. Rosalie, Emmett, go seek out any nomads you can find; Alice, you and Jasper will go to South America to alert the Brazilians. Esme and I will go to Egypt for Benjamin and his mate. Edward, you and Bella get to Alaska as quick as you can to get Tanya and her family; Renesme, I don't want to risk you getting out and dealing with the others yet. Will you and Jacob please stay and watch the house?" I felt numb. Renesme nodded mutely. Our family was spitting up…and I wasn't sure when we were all going to be together again.

**Hope you enjoyed it! I'll update ASAP! **

**LoTsA LoVe**

**Meghan**


	6. Visitors

**Thank you to all the people who reviewed and even if you didn't I hope your silently enjoying it and not going…wow this sucks, but if you were chances are you wouldn't have read this far unless you had nothing better to do. So either way… happy reading! :D**

**Notquiteblond31**

**Disclaimer: Don't I wish that I had rights to the Cullen clan and that Edward and Emmett and Jasper and Jacob were all mine. Sadly, this is real life and it is unfair. I DON'T OWN THEM!**

Edward and I made it to Alaska in record time. I could see Tanya and her family's house from a few miles away; it was the only landmark in the open area of snow. It was the biggest log cabin I had ever seen, almost like a mansion. I saw Kate's head at the window. She looked ecstatic to see us. Before we got even a hundred feet from the door, it was flung open by Carmen, Kate and Tanya's "Mother".

"Mi dulce jóvenes amigos! How wonderful to see you all!" Carmen's smile lit up her entire face and she spread her arms open wide to greet us. "But where is the rest of your family?" she asked, noticing for the first time that it was only Edward and I.

"We travel alone and unfortunately on ill-fated circumstances." Edward said grimly. Carmen's smile disappeared, and she looked at us with concern. However, she stepped back to allow us into their home. Someone shrieked and the next second I was being hugged by Kate.

"It's so good to see you Bella!" She spurted out. I remember feeling not so fond of her when she was threatening to electrocute Renesme and Edward, but there was no hostility now.

"It's good to see you too Kate." I said, with a sad sort of smile. "I just wish it was on better circumstances."

"It's been too long, and we are sorry for the bad news you bring, but are nonetheless thrilled by the visit." Said the vampire at Kate's side. It took me a moment to appraise him, before realizing I knew the person standing with her.

"Garret!" I exclaimed. "I didn't know you were still with them." I smiled, and his golden eyes gleamed back at me. "Vegetarianism suits you." He shrugged his shoulders as if it were no problem, but Kate beamed at him.

"He's done so well. I honestly think it's just the challenge that keeps him going sometimes." She said, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

"Ow." He said.

"Whoops!" she giggled. "Sorry, didn't mean to turn the electric current on that time!" Next we turned to Tanya and Eleazar, who both welcomed us warmly.

"Bella, Edward, you must not wait for bad news to see us next time." Tanya told us fondly. A man behind her cleared his throat. I stared for a moment, but did not recognize him.

"Bella Cullen." I said, extending my hand. "I don't believe we've met."

"No, I don't believe we have." He said, smiling slightly. "My name is Joseph. Tanya and I met several years ago, and now we are together." He threw his arm over her shoulder caringly. She smiled at him.

"It is very pleasant to meet you," Edward said, "but I'm afraid I must explain to you our reason for coming."

"Would you like to sit down?" Eleazar asked us. We nodded in synchronization and then all of us sat down on the furniture in the living room simultaneously.

"Now," Kate said mater-of-factly, "What's this all about?"

"Renesme." Edward said quietly. The atmosphere changed perceptibly. Suddenly, everything was very tense.

"What's wrong with Nessie?" Tanya asked quickly.

"Well she's only part of the problem. We think the Volturi might use her again as an excuse to attack us."

"The Volturi?" Garret asked, stunned. "What do they have to do with this?"

"Alice saw them in a vision, getting ready to prepare to attack us." Edward explained. They all looked at us, not saying anything for a moment.

"But why after all this time?" Carmen asked speculatively. Edward shrugged his shoulders and I finished the story.

"So we're gathering our old friends to come and support us once again, except this time, there is almost certainly going to be fighting." None of our friends looked happy about the prospect of that, but Eleazar answered.

"We still hold the Volturi completely responsible for Irina's death. And we remember the injustice that they almost bestowed upon you. We will stand with you, friends." The others nodded their head in agreement.

"Then it's settled." Edward said decisively. "How soon can we leave?"

"Almost immediately." Tanya answered. "We all just pack a few things first." While the rest stood up and scurried off to pack a few belongings, Kate, Edward and I still sat. Kate and Edward began discussing battle topics.

"Of course, we have even more of an advantage with Bella being older now, plus Renesme." She said. A dark look passed over Edward's face.

" I don't like the idea of Bella fighting, and I like the idea of Renesme standing with us even less. She's not fully a vampire: that makes her more vulnerable than the rest of us."

"True." Kate answered.

"We can always hope that others have been added to the covens of our friends." I interjected quietly.

"Yes, there's that." Kate answered me, then turning back to Edward she asked,

"How many of us do you think there will be?"

"Hopefully at least as many if not more than last time."

"Good," She replied. "Because the Volturi will have been doing everything possible to strengthen themselves over the past seventy years. They'd have to be idiots not to." Garret was back already and he chuckled slightly as he heard the end of the conversation.

"Not even packed yet and already making battle arrangements?" he asked her. "Darlin' you sure got some fight built up in you."

"And the Volturi is sure as hell going to get a big piece of it before I'm done with them." Garret started to say something else, but suddenly he was cut off by the shrill sound of Edward's phone ringing. He answered it quickly.

"Hello?" I could barely hear Alice's little voice on the other end of the phone. She was talking too fast for me to actually understand her. All of a sudden, he jumped to his feet. "No!" he cried. "She wouldn't have- all right I know you wouldn't call if you weren't sure. Yes, we are leaving now." Something in his face told me that whatever had happened wasn't good.

"We need to get home now." He said apologetically to the rest of them. Carmen waved us off.

"It is all right jóvenes. We will follow shortly after you." Edward nodded gratefully and then took my arm. As soon as we were outside we started to run. I didn't even know the reason yet, but I felt a great need to get home.

"It's Renesme. Julie went out to the house…and well…."

**Dun-dun-Dun! Hope you enjoyed! : D Sorry bout the cliff hanger..but figured it was a good way to end the chapter. Love yall! (BTW... what Carmen says in Spanish means "my sweet young friends"…go Google it.)**

**Meghan**


	7. Dilemma

**Sorry about the cliffhanger last time…was hoping to get some more reviews from it…anyway…so here's the next chapter. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: You could not possibly mistake me for Stephanie Meyers, much less confuse my writing with her brilliance. **

I ran home as fast as my feet would carry me, not speaking to Edward, not even breathing. Just concentrating as hard as I possibly could on controlling all of my strength to keep my feet moving fluidly over the ground. As I ran, I thought, and the more I thought, the more fear seeped into me.

What could Renesme have done? How had Julie found our house…unless….we hadn't gotten between Julie and Renesme soon enough. Renesme could have told her at any time where we lived during their conversation. And Julie, like me, had been drawn to our home, instead of being scared and repelled by our family of vampires. Unless Jacob had been able to get Julie away from Renesme…there was no way that Julie would have left our house alive. If she did leave alive then she was forced into the predicament that I had found when I fell in love with Edward; join the immortal world…or die. There was no other way. And Edward had said on the phone that Alice was absolutely sure of what she had seen…..then there was no hope.

In my peripheral vision, I could see Edward running gracefully beside me. He could have easily outrun me, but I felt better that he chose to stay close to me. I wouldn't want to deal with what was waiting for us at home by myself, and I assumed he wouldn't either. It didn't seem to take us long to get back over the range of mountains and start hurrying through the woods that would lead us home. We weren't far from home when I first heard the screams.

For the first time, I looked to Edward. His face was stony, not portraying any emotion, and looking dead ahead towards our house. I sniffed the trails. There was no fresh scent of any of the others, which meant that Jacob and Renesme were still the only ones home. Those screams most definitely did not sound like Jacob, and I'd never heard Renesme make a noise like that in all her life.

We rounded the corner to the clearing where the house stood, and that's when the scent assailed me. Human blood, warm, fresh, pulsing…just inside the house.

"Renesme…" Edward said in a horrified whisper, "What have you done?" We slowed to what would have been considered a brisk human jog, but was a slow walk for us. I knew we were both dreading the scene that awaited us inside. I took one deep breath of clean fresh air, and then opened the door.

The first thing that I noticed was Jacob, of course, since his enormous mass was usually enough to attract someone's attention. He had a strained look on his face, and his grip was tight around Renesme, who was struggling in his arms. He was talking to her, in soothing words.

"Nessie, no….just hang on…it's okay…" Renesme's eyes were black, and she seemed torn between wanting to dart forward and also wanting to restrain herself from going any closer to the middle of the room. My eyes cast downwards, following her glance.

It was obviously Julie, there was no denying that. And I was glad that I had taken a deep breath outside, because the blood covering the skin and staining the clothes of the girl would have been too much for me to remain in the room. She had bite marks…crescent shaped…along both arms, her neck, and her clothes were ripped. I knew it was too late…Julie was close to dead. My own daughter….killing my great niece. How ironic. Maybe my bad luck was just concentrated in Forks…

I looked back to Renesme. She was sobbing. I was quickly at her side, and Edward was at mine. I took Renesme carefully in my arms and carried her outside, where the Denali coven was waiting for us silently. They all looked strained.

"Don't go in the house." Edward advised them. "It's worse in there." Tanya and her family nodded solemnly at us. I went quickly back inside, where Jacob was now standing against the wall, looking out the window to where our guests and Renesme stood outside. I was all set to yell at him, to ask him how on earth he could have let her do that…but then, Jake beat me to the punch. He turned around to speak to me and his eyes were wet with his tears.

"I should have been able to stop her…I couldn't get ahold of her quick enough to stop from biting that girl. She's never going to forgive herself for this and it's my fault…" he mumbled a bit more, but the words were too low and unformed for even my acute hearing to understand.

"Jake," I said, trying to soothe him. "She'll be okay. I know you tried to do what was best for her." I couldn't be upset at him when he was like this. Jacob just shook his head at me and the looked outside again once, and then swiveled his head back to me.

"Will she hate me Bella?" he asked. I opened my mouth to answer, but Edward's voice was quicker to reply to Jacob's query.

"Of course not Jacob. She loves you and would never blame you for what she has done. I wouldn't condone it even if she did. Right now she's currently going through some shock. Bella, would you and Jacob mind accompanying me outside for a moment?" I looked down at Julie, not sure that it was the best thing to just leave her there. Edward followed my gaze.

"Bella, she's going to live." My head snapped up. And suddenly I realized what he meant. I put it all together in my head….the screaming, Julie's heart still beating sluggishly, but differently from normal, and the way she was twitching…like she was burning. She was one of us now. I nodded to him, signifying that I understood, and slowly followed him out to where Tanya and the rest of the Denali's were still holding on tightly to Renesme.

"She's fine now." Edward told them, and they reluctantly let her go. Renesme dropped to the ground like a dead weight. As I looked down at my daughter, I realized "fine" was the last word I would use to describe her at the moment. She looked like she was close to ears, and her eyes looked haunted. She saw me and a spark of recognition fleeted across her features. I ran quickly to her side and knelt down beside her on the wet grass.

"Momma…" she said weakly, and my eyes pricked. If they could have shed tears, they would have, because my daughter's pain was my pain. I knew it was hard for her, but I knew I had to hear her side.

"Show me," I quietly requested of her. She gave a deep shuddering breath and shook her head no.

"I can't…don't want to remember…." She mumbled, burying her face in my stone shoulder.

"Renesme, you have to." I said, as calmly as I could. I didn't want to upset her more. "I need to know what happened." She looked up into my eyes for a long moment, and then, with a last, resigned sigh, she placed her hand softly on my throat. At once, her memories flooded into my mind.

The day at school where she had met Julie. She vaguely remembered her thirst of that day, but most importantly she remembered the conversation.

_Well if you can't go with me right after school, we could meet at my house later, its out on the edge of town, you take the turnoff right after you get out of Forks, and follow the driveway to the clearing. Mine's the only house there. _She had smiled to Julie, and Julie had even managed a small smile back. Then her memories changed, switching to late last night.

_Jacob, sitting at the table, eating dinner. I'm smiling at how much he eats….and at the same time grossed out by the actual food he's eating. I make a face at him, and he grins at me, opening his mouth to show me all the disgusting goo inside._

_"Ew! Jake!" I complain. It's bad enough seeing the food when its whole…its worse seeing it all chewed up together in his mouth. We're laughing at each other. He quickly comes to the other side of the table and gives me a kiss._

_"See, normal food tastes good!" he insists. I can taste a little of the flavor of the chicken that was left on his lips. _

_"Not appetizing in the least," I assure him._

"_Oh and what you drink is?" he asked, snorting, and pointing down to the bowl in front of me. I had killed my buck earlier in the day, and drained the blood so I wouldn't have to go hunting later. The red liquid in the bowl in front of me was absolutely mouthwatering._

_"As a matter of fact it is." I say, grinning at him. He is smiling, when suddenly, his eyes turn worried. _

_"What?" I asked. I sniffed the breeze coming from an open window in the house and strain my ears. I hear the distinct sound of a car turning from the pavement to our gravel driveway. There was no scent yet, but I assume it is one of the friends my family is sending to us. _

_"What's the fuss Jake? It's probably some of Carlisle's friends." He shakes his head quickly back and forth._

_"It's too soon, the only people who would have been back this early is the Denali's, and Edward and Bella would have been with them. They wouldn't have driven." Suddenly, I am afraid too. Who would this unknown person be? Would they be friend or foe? As the sound draws nearer, I catch a scent of something much more appetizing than the animal blood in my bowl._

_"It's a human." I tell him. "But they aren't close enough yet for me to tell if it's someone I know." Jacob nods at me. _

_"Maybe you better go upstairs, just to be on the safe side." I agree with him, although normally I wouldn't. I didn't want another episode like what happened with Julie. I run gracefully up to Alice and Jasper's room to sit on their bed. I look through Alice's closet while I wait. I hear a soft, timid knock on the door downstairs, then Jacob answering it._

_"Can I help you?" he says to whoever it is._

"_I was just wondering…is Renesme home?" a quiet voice asks shyly. I recognize it at once. Julie! I breathe as little as possible and only through my mouth. I hide at the very back of Alice's closet where her scent masks the tantalizing lure of human blood downstairs. _

_"No." I hear Jacob say firmly. "She's gone for a while, and she's not coming back any time soon." _

_"Oh." Julie says, and the hurt is obvious in her voice. I wonder if we could have been friends, had I not been so eager to drink her blood. "Well, I was just wondering…it seemed like her other friends were keeping her away from me the other day and I just wanted to ask her, or them, why." _

_"Look kid," Jacob says, his voice a little kinder, "It's best you don't know what goes on here or with this family. Just keep going like nothing ever happened, leave them alone, and you'll be just fine." _

_"Are you threatening me?" Julie asks, astounded._

"_No," Jacob chuckles, "but if I was, I doubt there was anything you could do about it." I smile, and I can almost imagine the horrified look on Julie's face as Jacob told her that. _

_"Fine," She says, and I can hear her stomping down the porch steps and back to her car. Jacob waits a minute until it looks like she has pulled away. _

_"Nessie?" he calls to me. "You there?" _

"_Yes," I trill, and pull myself from the closet. "I'm coming." I skip quietly down the stairs and to his side. _

_"Very amusing performance." I tell him sarcastically. He grins a lopsided grin._

"_Hey, I was just forewarning the girl what she could be getting herself into." He laughs. "I mean, who'd wanna be friends with a crazy half-vamp girl like you?" he asks playfully, and ruffles my hair._

_"Hey!" I say, and pretend to be offended. "Take that back!" He shakes his head no and grins again._

_"Take it back or no kisses for you, Mr. Werewolf." I tell him, as I jump into his arms. I put my hand on his face and imagine kissing him fiercely_

_"Hmmm." He ponders for a moment, pretending to think about it. "Okay then, I take it back." I give him a slight peck on the lips._

_"Hey now…that's not fair!" he exclaims. I laugh and then kiss him again….for longer this time. _

_"Much better." He states appreciatively. Suddenly, I hear a gasp at the window, and look out to see Julie, standing there, her eyes wide with wonder and betrayal. I hold my breath again, but that doesn't help me, as she precedes to the door, and opens it quickly._

_"You just said she wasn't here!" Julie yells, and her breath washes over me. _

Here, Renesme's memory's faltered, and I could tell she was ashamed of what she remembered. However, she continued to quickly run over the rest of what happened. She launched herself at Julie, and Jacob, who was still standing there stunned, didn't have enough time to react. She had already bitten Julie several times before Jake could get a good hold on her.

Edward didn't say anything, although I knew he saw the memories Renesme was showing me. Jacob stood quietly behind me, not wanting to interfere, and the Denali's looked confused. Finally, Renesme was done. I felt so bad for her…what I wouldn't do to take away the pain she must be feeling at the moment. Edward turned to Tanya and her family.

"Renesme was just explaining to us what happened." He said apologetically.

Garret was the first one of the Denali coven to speak.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but not only do I not trust myself around your house right now, but I feel I am intruding on a very personal moment. So, if you'd excuse me, I think I will hunt in the mountains now." Tanya, Joseph, Kate, Carmen and Eleazar all nodded in agreement, then quickly disappeared as a group.

'Are you in control?" Edward asked Renesme, as soon as the others had vanished.

"Yes." Renesme whispered.

"Good." Edward said, and then turned to Jacob. "I'm going to ask you to keep ahold of her nonetheless while Bella and I move Julie upstairs to Carlisle's office. We'll have to call them and let them know." He continued to plan for a moment, and was apparently thinking of what we should do next.

"All right," he said with a frown and sigh. "Let's go deal with this."

**This is my longest chapter so far on this story so hope that you're as thrilled reading it as I was writing it! and I had the time because it snowed today!!! Yay! Please please please review…I love them, and they are very motivating!**

**Til next chapter…**

**Meghan**


	8. Company

**Hey guys…hope you enjoyed the last chapter, please review!**

**Disclaimer: You must be really stupid if I could convince you that my chapters could actually be the work of Stephanie Meyers. The wisdom and creativity of Twilight is solely hers. **

It had been almost two days since we had come home. Our first task was to move Julie to Carlisle's office, and that was followed quickly by cleaning the entire living room floor in straight bleach, and throwing out the old antique rug. The salty smell of blood would never be gone from it. Eventually the taint would be gone from the living room.

With Julie already changing and the blood cleaned up, the Denali's felt more comfortable coming and going in the house. Well, as comfortable as you can be with a person screaming up the stairs on a floor just above you. Renesme did not remain in the house for those two days, but spent most of them sulking out in her cabin, and Jacob, ever the loyal lapdog, stayed with her.

Edward and I spent our time either with the Denali coven discussing battle plans, or at Julie's bedside. I was the one who spent the most time with Julie, and Edward took the greater part of the planning with Kate. I couldn't help it…I felt in so many ways responsible for what was happening to Julie. I was her great-aunt, and my own daughter had turned her into a vampire. I hated watching this girl go through this, and even though I had never really known her, I felt a very motherly pull towards her. I thought back to when I had told Edward so many years ago, before Renesme was conceived.

"…_we'll adopt."_ I had never imagined that I one day we would actually be doing that, considering that we already had a daughter. But I felt that was exactly what we were doing with Julie: adopting her into the Cullen family. I had never imagined what it would be like to watch the person that I had chosen to become my son or daughter go through this painful process of becoming one of us, and it was extremely difficult.

Eventually Julie's screams quieted into sobs, and I thought maybe she could hear me now.

"Julie," I said, trying to make my voice sound smooth and comforting, "I know this is painful. I also know you can hear me and can't talk. I wish there was something I could do to help you….to make the fire fade. I'm sorry that you've been put in this situation. But first things first…and I understand that this will be hard for you to accept, but you need to know upfront." I paused, not sure how to start off. Finally, I just took a deep breath and plunged in.

"I'm you're great-aunt." I heard her gasp, but I didn't know if it was a sudden bout of pain, or my revelation that made her intake her breath, so I continued.

"I know you know about me, because I listened in your history class. You said you were curious, and ironically, now you're going to get to know Charlie Swan's first daughter." I gave a sick sort of laugh. "Funny how things work out, isn't it?" She didn't move, except for a twitching in her hand. I looked her over, and realized that already she looked different: her skin paler, and features more exotic.

"You're going to be beautiful, you know." I whispered, assuming that by now her hearing must have improved too. I cleared my throat and started speaking clearly again.

"But back to Charlie….sorry if I'm bothering you…but I remember how my transformation was and how eager I was to know what was going on, so I just thought you might like some company. Charlie was married to a woman named Renee. She was absolutely wonderful, Julie, so vivacious and caring. And completely forgetful." I smiled at the memory of my mother. " She and Charlie split when I was still a baby though. I came to live with him, here in Forks, when I was a junior in high school seventy years ago." Another sharp intake of breath from the girl on the bed told me that she could in fact hear me.

"I met the Cullen's my first day of school, and was fascinated by them, much like you were with my daughter Renesme. I fell in love with Edward, my husband…and he changed me." I laughed again. "Well that's making a long story short, as it took several predicaments to get me there. But we all became a family. If you want….we can be your family now." I stopped talking, and looked down at my hands. I heard light graceful footsteps behind me.

"We're back, Bella." Alice whispered. I spun to face her and embraced her in a tight hug. Then, with one last look at Julie, we skipped down the stairs together, where we saw a whole company of people waiting below for us in the living room.

"Bella!" exclaimed a tall, wild looking woman at the front of the room that I recognized immediately.

"Zafrina," I said with a small smile.

"How well you look," Zafrina said admiringly. "But tell me, where is your young Renesme?" I chuckled.

"Ah Zafrina," I said. "She is not so little anymore." After promising her I would show her the way to Renesme and Jacob's cabin to surprise them, I turned to see the other vampires in the room. I recognized almost all of them. There were the nomads: Charles, Makenna, Mary, Peter, Charlotte, Randall; our Irish friends, Siobhan, Liam and Maggie; Carlisle's Egyptian friends, Amun, Kebi, Benjamin and Tia; The Amazons, Kachiri, Senna, and Zafrina; the Romanians (I noticed them with a slight shudder) Vladimir and Stephan; and finally four vampires who's names I did not know.

I was exceedingly happy to see my old friends, but more so to see the returning members of my family. Rose, Emmett, Jasper, Carlisle and Esme all took turns giving me a hug, and each had something to say about Julie.

"How is she?" was what Carlisle and Esme wanted to know. Emmett asked if she would be ready to fight, which got him a slap on the arm from Rosalie. I quickly told them that she had stopped screaming and was probably going to wake up within the next few hours. Carlisle nodded and ran gracefully up the stairs, and I turned to greet my friends, and to question those whom I did not know. I noticed that two of the four stood with Benjamin, Tia, Amun and Kebi, so I stepped over to them first.

"How wonderful to see you all again!" I told them, lighting my face with a smile. Amun simply nodded silently at me, but Benjamin returned my smile gleefully.

"Hello Bella. How are you?" I told him fine, and then he turned to introduce me to his friends.

"This is Adam," he said, pointing to the dark haired, beautiful man on his right, "And this is Eliza." He said, reaching over to pat the brown haired, shy-looking woman on the other side of Adam.

"How nice to meet both of you," I said, shaking their hands.

"Adam is a shield too Bella." Benjamin told me excitedly. "He found us much like you found your Edward. We thought he would be a good ally." Adam stood quietly, but did not seem unhappy. Benjamin looked over at Eliza. "And she can…well... it's hard to describe what Eliza does…but the best way I can think of is that she manipulates your thoughts." I recoiled slightly back from the vampire named Eliza.

"Don't worry Bella Cullen. I do not wish to use my gift against you. I only use it when I need it, and sometimes to get my Adam to agree with me." She smiled at him, and he put his arm around her waist with a resigned sigh.

"Most of the time I know she's doing it… but it still seems like a good idea at first." He told me, in a deep voice.

"I'm glad you were all able to come." I told them honestly, and was extremely relieved that Benjamin and the rest of the Egyptians had not only created two new vampires, but that they both also had extra abilities.

"So how does your shield work?" I asked Adam curiously.

"Literally like a shield." He said, laughing. I must have looked confused for a moment, and he continued.

"When I choose to, I emit almost like a force field around me." I grinned excitedly, and he shook his head.

"Bella, don't get too excited. I'm still new at this. I'm no newborn, but I'm only two and a half decades old. I can't extend my shield very far. Maybe three or four feet if I'm really concentrating."

"But that could still be enough." I insisted stubbornly.

"Bella," came Edward's voice from behind me, " Leave Adam alone. It's not like he can do what you did as well." I turned to look at him and he was grinning his lopsided grin at me.

"Ah yes," Eliza said. "Benjamin told us how quickly you learned to use your shield last time against the Volturi." She looked at me appreciatively.

"Yes, I must say I'm quite jealous." Adam told me, and for a moment he did look that way. Suddenly Amun stepped forward.

"Bella, I wish to speak to you for a moment. The last time we met, I did not behave in a polite manner towards you or your daughter and left when I had no business leaving. I would hope that you could find it in your heart to forgive me." It was the longest speech I had ever heard him give.

"Of course," I told him quickly.

Benjamin inserted himself back into the conversation, covering up the awkward pause that followed Amun's proclamation and my answer.

"Well as much as we'd love to dominate your company ourselves, I'm sure you have other guests that need attending to." He gave us a small smile and continued. "Besides, I do feel rather thirsty. Edward, may we borrow one of your luxurious cars?" Edward nodded and easily tossed him a set of keys.

"Thanks," Tia said, and then she and the rest of the Egyptians disappeared. I turned to another male vampire that I did not recognize, who was standing with Mary.

"Hello," I said, introducing myself.

"It's nice to meet you." the man said. "I've heard so much about the Cullen clan from Mary, and I've been itching to come and meet you all myself. Of course, I wish that it were not under these circumstances, but how can one help such things?" he shrugged his shoulder. "My name is Jeff by the way." I nodded politely, and he continued.

"Mary and I met several years ago in Paris. It's quite lovely there even at ni-" He quickly cut off and a hiss escaped from between his teeth. I looked over my shoulder to where Jeff was glaring. Jasper was defiantly growling right back, and was suddenly at our side. Peter and Charlotte were at Jasper's side at once. Every one else in the room had gone very quiet.

"Jeffrey Taylor." Jasper snarled. He turned to Mary with a betrayed face.

"_This _is who you end up with? Do you know what he's capable of?" Jasper's fierce words made me feel suspicious of the vampire who I had moments before considered polite.

"Well I'm sorry if fighting my way away from you and those other newborns, and tearing a few up in the process, is considered criminal to you." he said, leaning into a defensive crouch. "But I wasn't about to let you tear me apart just because I wasn't considered _useful _to you and that old hag anymore." I gasped. I didn't know that any one other that Charlotte and Peter had ever escaped the war that Maria had continued to wage for decades.

"You not only ripped my arm off, but damn near jeopardized everything we worked for. We were nearly seen that night by the humans!" Jasper hissed at him. I couldn't take this arguing anymore.

"Jasper, Jeff…" I started.

"Don't use my name in the same sentence as his." Jeff spat out.

"And _I _would appreciate it if you didn't speak to my wife that way." Edward said in a warning tone. He turned to Jasper. "Jazz, straighten up right now. Mary is our friend, and they've come to help us. Let bygones be bygones." Jasper growled one more time, but straightened out of his defensive crouch.

"Fine," He said, but whirled and left the room. Jeff looked after him angrily for a moment, and then turned to apologetically face me.

"I'm sorry Bella, Edward. I didn't know that your Jasper Hale was the Jasper Whitlock I escaped from all those years ago. It caught me off guard, and I will behave myself like a guest for my remaining stay here." Mary and Edward looked just as relieved as I felt. I had been worried that Mary and Jeff would leave because of the animosity in the history of Jeff and Jasper.

"Excuse me…" said a tiny, ringing voice. I looked down to my right to see a small girl with long blonde ringlets.

"Oh, I'm sorry. With the confusion, I didn't get to introduce myself." She said, looking warily over at Jeff, who looked down at his feet.

"I'm Grace House."

"Hello Grace. You have a very pretty name." I told her. "It's nice to meet you. Who are you here with?"

"I traveled alone." She told me. I must have looked surprised, for I was. She giggled at me.

"Don't be mistaken by my looks. I'm almost as old as Carlisle. I'm only younger by a few months. " She said. I gasped. It still amazed me at times that these vampires who looked so much younger than me could be several decades…or centuries older.

"I wasn't able to contact Grace last time." Carlisle said, his voice carrying down the stairs from his office.

"I've known him since he lived in London." She said, speaking up again. I nodded to her.

"I'm sorry it just seems incredible to me that you could be that old. So tell me, what was Carlisle like back then?" Carlisle's booming laugh and Grace's twinkling giggle wove together.

"A little different then now. Not so controlled."

"So, do you have any extra abilities?" I asked. I was growing very hopeful at the prospect of all of the vampires at our gathering.

"As a matter of fact, I do." She said, grinning. "I can heal people. Whether it's a deep wound or a scratch. I concentrate on the wound and picture it slowly disappearing and it does."

"That's great!" I exclaimed. Grace would be a valuable asset. "How come the Volturi haven't recruited you yet?"

"I've never given them the chance." She said simply. "I move even more often than most nomads, and try not to ever retrace my steps. I guess that they've never been curious enough to come find me out." She shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever works." As I looked from Grace to the other vampires in the room, I felt hope that we could win this fight. And we had gifts…and hopefully numbers on our side. I thought vaguely about the wolves, and wondered if they would join us again. Suddenly, Carlisle's voice floated down to us from upstairs.

"She's waking up."

**Sooo…what did you think? I hope you don't mind the names….I came up with most of them…but I was absolutely stuck on a name for the girl like figure, so my Mama Gina was wonderful and helped me out. Thank you! And thanks again Autumn for betaing my stories…couldn't do it without you! (And I hope you don't mind that I used your middle name. :D) Please review! Happy Reading!**

**LoTsA LoVe**

**Notquiteblond31**


	9. Learning

**Hope yall enjoyed the Christmas holidays…consider this my belated present to you all.**

**Disclaimer: I own a few characters: Adam, Eliza, Jeff, Grace, and Joseph, but everything else is from the brilliant mind of Stephanie Meyers. One day I hope I have a dream that turns into a multi-million dollar best seller.**

I and my immediate family waited with bated breath, as slowly Julie began to move. I thought that since I had spent the most time with her that I should be the one who attempted to speak to her first.

"Julie?" I asked cautiously. Her eyes flew open, and she flipped over on to her stomach, then crouched against the wall in an instant. Her face didn't move, but her eyes darted back and forth across the room. She finally stopped and focused on me.

"You." she said quietly. "I know your voice."

"Yes," I smiled encouragingly. "I'm Bella." She looked at me skeptically for a moment before saying something.

"My supposed great-aunt right?" she said, her velvet voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You don't believe me." I said, nodding. "That's all right. I didn't expect you would at first. But tell me this…you must feel the burn in your throat right this very moment. Deny that." Her hand flew quickly to her throat and her eyes narrowed.

"What does it mean?" She hissed. " It burns!"

"It means," Carlisle said from behind me, "is that you'd be better off giving us a chance to explain… dear one, without the skepticism." She nodded, but did not take her eyes off of all the vampires in the room. I whispered quickly to Carlisle.

"She's overwhelmed. Maybe everyone else should back out for a bit…give me a minute alone with her?"

"And if she decides that she's thirsty enough to escape and go hunting?" Edward asked me.

"Then have Alice and Jasper stand outside the door and you and Emmett go stand outside underneath the window." Everyone nodded in agreement with the plan, and swiftly left the room. Julie had been watching the exchange quietly, and her attention was now entirely centered on me. There was a silent moment, and it seemed to stretch forever.

"Well?" Julie said. "You wanted to talk…so explain." She sat down instantaneously against the wall, not seeming as though she felt threatened anymore, but not daring to come any closer either. I sat down too, folding my legs gracefully and smiling encouragingly at her. She just looked at me suspiciously.

"What do you remember from what I told you while you were changing?" I began.

"I remember a lot of pain….burning so fierce I couldn't concentrate on anything else. And then, I could start to hear things…more clearly than I ever have before. I heard you telling me about Charlie and Renee…your parents?" she stopped and asked.

"Yes." I told her, letting another small smile slip through at the mention of my parents.

"And you told me how you met the Cullens, and that I could be a part of your family." She finished.

"So what else would you like me to start with?" I asked kindly.

"I want to know what's changed about me. Like you said earlier…I have a burning in my throat…" she paused for a moment, looking very vampire-ish. "It's like I'm really thirsty, but water doesn't sound appetizing. Why do I feel that way? I'm still….human, aren't I?" she asked, her silky voice rising a pitch. I took a deep breath before answering.

"You still have certain human characteristics." I said, choosing my words carefully. "But essentially, no…you are no longer human, and it wouldn't be very safe for you to be around any humans for a long, long time." She took a deep breath, and looked afraid for a moment, but didn't stop me so I continued.

"I believe you also wanted to know what that thirst was that you feel. I know you may find this hard to accept, but yes, it is a thirst, and no it isn't for water. You're a vampire Julie." Her eyes looked shocked.

"You aren't serious?" Julie shrieked, jumping to her feet. "A vampire?" She shook her head vigorously. "I don't know what kind of mind game you're playing with me, or if you gave me some kind of drug that's causing me to hallucinate, but I don't believe you." I lifted my hands, slowly, in a non threatening way. I was still seated on the floor.

"No mind games, tricks, hallucinations, drugs…or any other rational explanation. You have to believe this is real."

"Prove it." she said, snarling at me.

"Would you permit someone else to come into the room?" I asked her.

"Not like I have a choice." She said, glaring at me.

"Well I'd rather ask. I want you to be comfortable." I said, trying to talk softly, soothingly, trying to calm her. If things got much worse, I might have to ask Jasper to intercede.

"Oh yes, because the burn in my throat is so comfortable…just like that girl biting me the other night when…I…." she stopped and looked me dead in the eye. "Oh God…she bit me. That's when the burning started." She looked so helpless, and I wish there was something I could do. "Show me." She whispered. "I need to know what I am."

"Alice?" I called. "Could you bring the mirror…and…Renesme?" Julie hissed again.

"Renesme." She said, spitting the name. "She's the one who bit me, right?"

"Yes." I said calmly. "It wasn't like she meant to condemn you to our life. You're blood sings for her….she's never come up against that kind of temptation before. She feels horrible…especially considering that she's your cousin and all." She sighed.

"I suppose it shouldn't surprise me if I'm buying into all this other stuff that you could actually be related to me." She said. "You know, before now, I didn't believe in the supernatural at all. I'm still not sure that I want to."

"Well it's time to." Alice said, as she danced into the room, carrying Rosalie's full length mirror. "I'm not sure that you really have much of a choice." She came to a stop, and then faced the mirror towards Julie. She stood stock still for a moment. Her mouth dropped slowly, and her eyes gazed at the image in disbelief. Even though she did resemble the human that I had met a several days ago, she was an entirely different person now: exotic looking, with perfect features, skin as pale as death, and bright crimson eyes.

"It doesn't even look like me!" She said a note of hysteria in her voice.

"I told you that you were going to be beautiful." I whispered quietly to her. She was precariously close to having an emotional breakdown, and I tried to make my voice as soothing as possible. Jasper must have felt the tension in the room from just outside the door, because he was there in a flash, and quickly the atmosphere of the room seemed less tense. Julie straightened out of her defensive crouch and merely looked at us with curious and not furious eyes.

"So…looking this way. It's a part of what I am?" she asked, almost calmly.

"Yes." Alice chirped. Julie focused on her for a moment.

"I feel…funny." She said slowly, emphasizing every word.

"You were about to lose control." Jasper said in his calm, quiet voice. "As a newborn, that would be very, very dangerous. I can influence people's emotions." She nodded, although I wasn't sure if she really understood.

"How many of us are there?" she asked, speaking to me again.

"In our family, or in the house at the moment?" I said, my laughter ringing about the room.

"In our family I guess." She said, looking confused.

"There's ten of us." I said, and began naming the members of our clan. "There's Carlisle, the man who spoke to you earlier, and his wife Esme. Then there's Rosalie and Emmett, Alice…" I paused and Alice gave a little wave. "Jasper…." He nodded curtly at Julie. "My husband Edward, my daughter Renesme and her husband Jacob, and myself." I said, pointing at myself. "Oh," I stated as an afterthought. "Jacob isn't a vampire though…he's a werewolf." I smiled at the end of my little speech. She looked back and forth between all of us, evidently seeing if we were playing games with her.

"You're not joking are you?"

"No." I told her. "Jacob used to belong to a pack, but he lives with us now. And while he's not as invincible as the rest of us, he does heal quickly, and also stays the same age."

"You don't age? And how do you stand being around him if he's human?"

"You'll see." I said, laughing again. At that moment, Renesme's smell hit the house. I looked quickly at Alice.

"When you asked for her, I sent Zafrina to get her and Jacob." Alice said shrugging.

"Julie," I said, as my daughter and son-in-law/best friend/werewolf entered the room, "I'd like you to meet Renesme and Jacob."

Hope you enjoyed, know it wasn't that long, but I'm doing the best I can on a school night. Please R&R!

LoTsA LoVe

Meghan


	10. Regret

**Hey, I'm sorry it's been so long since I last typed you guys a chapter…then again, I've been apologizing for a lot lately. There's someone out there that I owe a full hearted apology to, and I just wanted to thank you for everything you do for me and for being the amazing person that you are. I'm sorry I hurt you…and even though I still plan to apologize in person….this chapter is for you.**

**Disclaimer: I don't feel like coming up with something witty so here it is: I don't own Twilight!**

**A/N: I'm telling this chapter from Renesme's point of view…it just seemed easier. **

"But I can't go see her Jacob, I can't!" I shrieked. I didn't normally let my emotions run away with me, but this was a special case.

"Nessie, you've got to sometime. It's not like you can avoid her forever."

"Watch me." I said stubbornly. Jacob exhaled loudly, in that there's-no-reasoning-with-you way.

"Renesme, honestly, what choice do you have? To leave? Because you know Julie would stay here…in which case you'd have to meet her." I saw the logic, and understood what he meant. But it was just so hard. Why did everything have to be so complicated? What was I supposed to say to her? "Oh hi, I'm Renesme, you're cousin, and the person who ended your life." Yes, I'm sure that'd go over superbly. I growled a frustrated growl underneath my breath.

"Jacob, I just don't know what to do." I said, feeling close to tears. "Everything's so confusing to me." He pulled me into his warm embrace.

"Shhhh." He whispered soothingly. "It'll work out." I was glad for once that someone wasn't trying to placate me by saying it was "Ok", but instead was just giving me hope that everything could turn out better. I took a deep breath.

"Okay. I'll go. But you have to be right there with me the _entire _time." I said sternly.

" 'Atta girl." He said, beaming at me. "Let's go." By the time we had decided to leave, there was a knock at the door. I answered it quickly, only to find Zafrina at our doorstep.

"Alice sent me for you." she said in explanation for her appearance there. I nodded, and we followed her back to the house. I didn't have time to think, to wonder what was going to happen. This was an instinct choice I had made, it was a bad one, but I had to brave up and deal with the consequences.

The first time I saw her I didn't recognize her. She didn't smell the same for one thing, and for another her features, as all of ours, had been heightened and beautified.

"Hi." I said shyly, extending my hand to her. She glared at my hand suspiciously and then answered.

"Hello." She answered in a wind chime voice. I smiled at her, but she didn't return it. After a beat she said, "So you're Renesme?" I nodded at her, and before I could stop it, a stream of apologies was pouring from my mouth.

"I'm so sorry, I never meant to do this to you, this is awful and it's all my fault, I don't know what to say, I know you probably hate me, but I really, really would never have done this to you normally, I don't know what came over me-" she held up her hand in the middle of my flow of words.

"Stop, okay? What's done is done. You can't change it. Yeah, I'm mad. I mean, no one wants to die or have to have a huge part of their life taken away from them. But I'm here." She didn't look at me while she said it. I felt immense pain for this girl I didn't truly know, and for what I had taken from her. Chances, opportunities, wonderful things that could have happened….and because of one dumb mistake I had changed all of that. What kind of a person was I? Tears sprang to my eyes as I realized what I had done.

"Julie," I started again, " I need to say one last thing. Everything that I've cost you…I know there's no way I'll ever be able to make it up to you, and no amount of apologizing will make it right. But know that I do feel horrible about all of this." All she did was nod…what was that supposed to mean to me? But at least she wasn't screaming, yelling, crying or trying to kill me.

"Your mom's already explained everything to me." She said, indicating towards Bella with her hand. My mother smiled encouragingly at me. Sweet Bella, always more worried about others. I walked over to her and hugged her tightly. She held me for a moment.

"You're right mom." I whispered into her shoulder. "Always right. I should have stayed away from her…. I should have gone the other way."

"Honey, it's all right. I'm here for you. We all make mistakes." Bella said, holding me tighter.

"But why this mistake?!" I sobbed. "Why now?"

"Sweetheart, I don't know." She said, gazing at me with sorrow filled eyes. "But everything happens for a reason." Jasper's hand was suddenly on my shoulder and I felt instantly calm. I wish he could completely take away the pain that had been plaguing me about this situation, but at least I had an emotional break, even if it was just for a moment or two.

**Sorry again guys, know it's short. Ill try to get something more lengthy out to you this weekend. Love yall!**

**Meghan**


	11. Elation

We all sat in the living room, Julie among us. She sat off to the side, away from the other vampires. Alice stood close to her, as did Jasper. I looked at her, then Renesme, and finally, to Carlisle, who was standing at the front of the room. All of the vampires had gone silent.

"Thank you friends, for joining us once again. New comers, we are grateful for your presence here. As we have told you, the Volturi are assembling their forces once again, and therefore, regrettably, we must also rally ours." Jacob quietly stood up from the chair in which he had been sitting.

"Carlisle? Do you believe it would be beneficial to our cause if we were to alert the pack? If one still exists on the reservation." Carlisle nodded his approval, and without another word, Jacob dove out of the door and headed toward the reservation.

"Does anyone else have anything that they feel should be said, or would like to add?" Carlisle offered. I quickly looked between Jasper and Jeff; sure that one of them would mention the obvious conflict between themselves. However, they remained silent. Edward was the first to speak up.

"I believe that any of the newcomers, or anyone else, that wishes to learn how to defend themselves properly should take up lessons with Kate and Jasper, if they are willing to teach." Jasper nodded his silent agreement, as did Kate.

"Very well, would any one be interested in learning? Although I severely hope that it doesn't come to it, there may very well be fighting." Several vampires raised their hands. Suddenly, a quiet voice came from the back of the room.

"What about me?" Julie asked, carefully avoiding every eye but Carlisle. "Where do I fit into all of this?"

"Dear one, we would never ask you to fight." Carlisle quickly shot a look at Emmett, who had started to open his mouth. "You barely know us, much less the world we belong to. While we hope that you will come to think of us as your family, we could never ask such a thing of you." Julie looked thoughtful for a moment, and then answered.

"But if I were to fight on my own, would you let me?" There was a stunned silence. I was absolutely shocked….she _wanted _to fight?

"Well, we wouldn't refuse a helping hand…"Carlisle said slowly. Then he voiced what I was thinking. "But why would you want to?"

"Because," Julie said, "These people sound like they want to attack you for no reason, other than you're a threat to their little empire. And as much as I don't like the way that I was pulled into this world, it's my world now. And you are my family. I want to protect that." Silence followed her statement. Then, slowly, as not to startle her, Alice put her arms around Julie and gave her a hug.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into." She whispered. "I mean the drama in this family…honestly…" She giggled. Julie looked politely bewildered, as if she didn't know whether to take Alice seriously or not. I too stood up and walked to Julie's side.

"Welcome to the family." I said as I pulled her into my arms.

************

Around noon the next day, Julie and I stood together, watching some of the vampires train with Jasper and Kate. Right now it was Adam who was taking on Jasper in the midst of the makeshift battlefield. Julie watched them longingly.

"Why do you want to fight?" I asked, wondering what on earth could make her wish for violence like that.

"I told you in the house." She said, her eyes not leaving Adam and Jasper's fluid motions. "You're my family now. I'd hate to lose that before I even really got a chance to enjoy it."

"But I don't understand why you seem to…eager, to fight. You almost seem to look forward to it." She shrugged.

"I've never been the type to stand by and let wrongs be committed without trying to right them. This time righting them just happens to mean being a part of a fight." She looked over at me and grinned. "That I'm starting to believe, by all of your accounts of the Volturi, is going to be a battle to rival Armageddon." I shrank back slightly, realizing that she had a point. Julie noticed the action.

"Don't you want to be able to be a part of something miraculous?" Julie asked me. "This fight will be told about to generations of vampires far down the line."

"I've never been a fighter." I admitted. Julie let out a disbelieving breath.

"Then what happened last time?" She asked. "Alice told me more about everything you did. I think she wanted to give me encouragement."

"My family was at stake. I thought we were outnumbered and surely going to lose. I fought to protect my daughter because I believed I had no other choice." Julie nodded to me in an understanding manner. Then she turned and strode quickly over to Jasper, who was just finishing up with Adam.

"Mind if I join?" she asked, giving a playful growl.

"I'd feel bad about hurting you." Jasper teased. Julie held out a palm and gave a "bring it" signal with her hand. Jasper, without notice, sprang at her. Julie, miraculously, managed to just get out of his way. He lunged for her again, this time throwing his arms out to capture her. Again, she managed to evade him.

I watched as they continued their duel, weaving in and out, fists and bodies flying, each trying to entrap the other. For the longest time, it seemed Julie had a major disadvantage, only barely escaping Jasper's reach. But soon, she started gaining her own ground back, forcing Jasper to evade her at times.

I noticed that Julie had even started using some of Jasper's own tactics against him. One particular hand movement that she used to reach out to grab his throat, I had seen Jasper use not moments earlier. Unbelievably, it worked for her. She had her arm wrapped around Jasper in a headlock.

"Gotcha." Julie said, giggling. Jasper, in stunned disbelief, turned around slowly.

"How on Earth did you do that?" He demanded. "No one beats me!" He seemed rather put out by his failure.

"I was just observant and used some of the stuff you tried on me."

"Observant." He said, blowing out a steam of breath. "How the hell were you able to be observant while I'm attacking you?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, you'll certainly be a valuable fighter when the time comes. You might even be able to help us train some of the others, if you don't object to it." Julie shook her head and replied.

"Of course not. I'd love to be able to help." I walked over to where the two of them were standing, noticing for the first time the crowd of onlookers that had gathered to watch Julie and Jasper fight.

"You don't have to fight." I told her. "I hate risking your life along with all of the other people I care about." My gaze found Renesme and Edward as I spoke. "The Volturi are ruthless. They don't care about any one, not even their own guard. Their only interest is gaining power. They already want Edward, Alice, Renesme and I. I can't imagine how jealous they'll be now that we've added you to our family as well." She looked worried for a moment, but stood her ground.

"I want to fight." I looked at the vivacious and immovable young woman before me. There was no lack of determination in her eyes. I saw only fierce, and final, decision woven in her suddenly black eyes.

"You need to hunt." I told her. "Soon."

"I'll go with her." Renesme said. Julie glanced swiftly at her, and then nodded. They took off running into the woods together, looking as though they were gliding over the soft ground. As I watched them go, my daughter and my niece, I had a slight hope that just maybe, our little family would work out. As they disappeared behind the trees, Edward came over next to me and put his arms around me.

"They'll be all right." He whispered tenderly in my ear.

"I know." I sighed. "I just worry."

"What of?" He asks. "We've defeated the Volturi before; surely we can do it again. Especially if Jacob brings reinforcements from the reservation. The wolves were a valuable asset last time. Plus we have our new friends who joined us."

"It's not that," I said, turning to look into his beautiful amber eyes. I tried to imagine, as I did so often, what they had looked like when they were a deep green. I couldn't do it. His eyes were so beautiful, so filled with caring, that I could not fathom them being any other way.

"Then what is it, love? What's bothering you?"

"Julie. I fear….what if someday down the road she resents us, our family, for making her what she is?" Edward pulled me close.

"She won't. If she's willing to fight for us, I doubt that she could ever resent us. Besides, she seems to be taking to immortality quite well. Not as well as you, however." He said, gently brushing his lips against my forehead. I instantly felt better.

"You'd think, in seventy years, I'd tire of you, Mr. Cullen. But I've yet to do so." He smiled my favorite crooked smile, and laughed.

"Nor have I tired of you, Mrs. Cullen." He bent down and nipped lightly at my ear. "I could never tire of having you…"

His voice raised goose bumps along my spine, and I pulled him close to kiss him. Someone cleared their throat behind me. I broke away from him.

"Damn. I forgot there were other people watching." I said, giggling. It was always like that; I simply lost myself when I was with Edward.

"Well we do have a conveniently empty cabin…." He purred against the back of my neck.

"Well, goodnight." Alice said with a tinkling peal of laughter hidden in her voice. I threw her a dirty look, before taking Edward's hand and walking away with as much dignity as I could muster. Before long, our cozy little home was within sight. I turned and gave Edward a mischievous grin. Then I broke into a run, calling behind me.

"Catch me if you can!"

************

Several hours later, the sun was beginning to rise, and I heard the unmistakable sounds of someone, two some ones, running through the forest.

"Our daughters are back." I said. Edward growled.

"Don't they know a proper hunting trip is supposed to last longer, therefore giving me more time with their mother?" I laughed.

"I doubt they considered that." I looked towards the front door of the cabin. "We should probably get up."

"No." Edward said, snuggling closer to me. "I don't ever want to get up out of this bed again."

"Darling, we have to go see how they are. And Jake might be back with news too." Edward grumbled, but finally consented and we tumbled out of bed. When we got back to the house about half an hour later, fully clothed and freshened up, everyone was already outside milling around on the lawn.

"You two have a good night?" Emmett asked, and winked.

"You'd think after nearly a century you'd give up on the innuendos." I said shaking my head.

"Let me take care of it." Edward said, and playfully lunged at Emmett. He hit him square in the chest, and they rolled around for a few minutes.

"My crazy husband and brother-in-law." I muttered. I looked around the yard for Renesme and Julie. I found them talking with Jacob. They looked excited.

"Morning Jake." I said, giving him a smile. "How was the run?"

"Beneficial." He said, returning the smile. "Not only is there still a pack in La Push, guess who's the Alpha?" There was only one wolf that could make Jake smile that way.

"Seth?" Jacob nodded in delight. "No way!" I exclaimed disbelievingly. "How old is he now? Well in looks anyway." He shrugged.

"He looks about twenty-five, twenty-six. Not as lanky as he was; he bulked up some." He gave a lopsided grin. I couldn't believe our luck that Seth, of all people, was the pack leader.

"Did he say what happened to Sam, or the others?" I asked. Suddenly a darker look came over Jake's face. I could tell that meant there was no good news to be found on that subject.

"None of them? Not one?" I asked, hoping that there was at least someone.

"Quil and Claire are in the nursing home in Seattle. Colin and Brady still help Seth with the younger members of the pack. No one knows about Leah for sure. They're the only ones left." Despite that I could tell he didn't really wish to talk about it, my curiosity got the better of me.

"What do you mean they don't know about Leah?" He shook his head.

"She took off on her own, just like she said she'd do. No one's heard from her since. She broke off all contact."

"Even Seth?" I asked, shocked that Leah would leave her brother and pack that way.

"Even Seth." He said, nodding. "But," he said, changing the subject, "the good news is, Seth says he'd be more than happy to help us when the Volturi show up. He just wants to know when they can set up camp here." I nodded.

"Whenever they need to, of course. I'm sure the rest of the Cullens won't mind, although we should probably alert the rest of our guests that the werewolves will be coming."


End file.
